A stitch at a time
by Mariana-chan
Summary: As usual it's a M&A/AU, where Aoshi's a succesful lawyer and Misao's a clothes designer
1. Default Chapter

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Ok, I know I should be working in my crossover, but this idea just popped and I wanted to take a chance and see if it was worth something. As to my crossover, I'm stuck at the damn party and school isn't helping, so as soon as I can I'll post it, 'kay?

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A stitch at a time

It was the beginning of another court year, that implied lots of paperwork, all the law firms in the country would be nuts. Everyone would be returning from vacations, organizing information and paper stacked over their desks. But nothing like this was happening in a certain office on the 25th floor, where the law firm Haijime & Seijuro and associates was located. In that office, even though the desk was stacked with papers, the owner of that same office was pacing around. He was very tall, with dark black hair, that covered his amazing ice blue eyes and looked very soft to the touch. His thin lips were set in a frown and his nicely shaped eyebrows were matching them. He wore a black suit, with a long jacket, and a dark gray tie.

He was interrupted by a woman that entered his office, with a thigh skirt and a matching shirt.

"What is it, Sunihi?" He asked his secretary.

"Well, Shinomori-san, I've your appointments for today. After lunch, you've a phone conference with the defense lawyer from the Kay versus Isao case. After that, you have to confirm if you'll go to tomorrow lunch with Cotterell, depending on Soujiro's response. Then, you have a meeting with your tailor."

Aoshi nodded and Sunihi left, leaving him alone again. Summing it all up, he had a phone call with the lawyer from hell, who talked and talked, had a preview for a lunch the day after, which he could only hope Soujiro with get him of, and a small light at the end of the day, when his tailor would tell him funny stories while showing him his new stuff.

Not that Aoshi liked it better during vacations. He actually didn't have then, since he kept on working on his processes. He hardly felt like it would do him any good to go to a foreign country, to a sunny beach and fry himself alive and, worse of all, do all that alone. Aoshi liked solitude, he really did, but he was starting to feel the cold and lonely apartment at the end of the day. So, now that everyone had returned with lots of stories to tell, that he really didn't mind not listening to, he felt like HE deserved those vacations.

Trying to get all those melodramatic thoughts out of his logic brain, Aoshi sat in his leather chair and called his secretary to phone that damned defense lawyer. The irritating man's voice entered his brain at 20 km per hour and left at 80. He kept on instilling about his clients innocence. While the man talked and talked, his cell phone rang. Aoshi grabbed his phone, ran out of the office and picked up the call on the corridor.

"Hai?"

"Shinomori-San? This is Omasu, from Nenji's, to check if you are coming today."

"Hai, I am."

"Alright, then. See you later." And then she hang up and Aoshi returned to his office, where the other lawyer was still talking. It was amazing how a single person can do a monologue and mistake it with a dialogue. Five minutes more and Aoshi would be ready to jump out the window. Thankfully, Soujiro, a college of his, entered.

"Look, Aoshi," he whispered " I won't be able to make it tomorrow, so you'll have to go. I'm sorry man." Aoshi nodded. "I'll give Sunihi the papers."

Just great! He was going to listen to that ape talking on the other side of the line for hours, with his mind set on the prospect of a lunch in an Argentinean restaurant, with large steaks and boring business men, that wouldn't talk business but women, cars, vacations and other idiotic stuff. Aoshi couldn't do much more than sunk in his chair and wish that the other guy would have a heart attack or something.

"… my client didn't know he was using her money! It's his accountant fault, not his. He had the right to use the money in his account for his beach house…"

Jesus fucking Christ! Did that man really believe in what he was saying or had he written the speech before?

* * *

Misao couldn't believe it. A house of her own! She never thought that her grandfather would allow her to live alone, let alone give her a house! Sure, she had lived two and a half years in Italy, away from him, but she lived with two girls, not alone. Maybe he had considered that working five hours at the clothes shop with him was enough for a twenty-two year old, soon to be twenty-three.

Misao looked around herself. Jiya had gotten her a loft. It had a medium bedroom, a living room, which she planned on using for a studio, a small kitchen, connected to the living room, and a bathroom, which Jiya had rebuilt and had placed a large Jacuzzi, she intended on using two times in her life. Her Jiya was mad! When she had asked him about the Jacuzzi, he had said something about making a great place for smooching. Silly man!

Misao carried her last suitcase to her new room. She had arrived that morning from Italy, where she had been attending classes on fashion, which was her job. Her room had been decorated with a blue motto, her double bed had dark blue silk sheets, her window curtains were also blue and she even had long, blue bed curtains.

Misao's new dresser wasn't big enough for her seven suitcases packed with clothes. Most of them were her own creations during classes, that she intended on putting for sale at her Jiya's shop. Well, they'd have to be the best, considering Jiya's shop was a very well known shop, all over the country, with very expensive clothes. Actually he had already opened another two shops, one in Kyoto and another in Osaka.

"So, I'll unpack two or three cases and then I'll go greet everyone at Nenji's. If I'm not to tired, I'll even start working today." Misao planned. Actually unpacking wasn't all that easy, considering she didn't have the space to put her stuff. She would have to buy another dresser, with a good set of drawers. After two hours she had just unpacked her essential and private things, her drawing material and some clothes, when the phone rang.

"Yes?"

"Misao? It's Soujiro. I called your grandfather and he gave me this number. So, you've come back for this, ne?"

"Hi, Soujiro! Yes, I think this time I'll stay for a while. You know, help out." Answered Misao. Soujiro had been her boyfriend when she had received the scholarship to go abroad and they had tried a long distance relationship, but Misao got word of him going out with other women and they had broke up. Actually, they had had a really bad fight over the phone, but they ended up staying in connection with one another. They were friends no, that's all.

"So you want to have lunch with me tomorrow? I have a thing set, but I can pass it on to another guy." They were friends, weren't they? Misao stopped unpacking and looked herself in the mirror. He wouldn't try and renew their relationship, now that she was back inside the country borders, would he?

"Ah… I don't know. You got that thing and I…"

"Oh, but I have another guy who can do it for me. Come on!" Well, what did she have to lose?

"Alright. Tomorrow you can pick me up at Nenji's, at about 1 p.m., okay?"

"Great! See you then."

When he hang up, she wasn't so sure she had done the right thing. He had cheated on her! Apparently, to him, there was nothing more fun than dating an arts student. She could actually see him bragging about the weird girl he had been dating and now she was going to lunch with him? Well, one thing he hadn't managed was to get her in his bed. He had tried numerous times, telling her they had to move on with their relationship and even when she told him she was a virgin he had continued. She had had small, inconsequent flames with three or four Italians, her friends tried to set her up with, but she was a twenty-two year old woman and still a virgin. Not that she mind it much, but she had been nursing the thought that she was ready to have a serious relationship with a mature man, that would make her develop and feel good about herself. Well, she wasn't all desperate after a man! She just stood waiting for the love of her life to get her and carry her to the sunset!

So, tell me what you think, ok? Some reviews would be nice! JA!

MaRiAnA


	2. A metting with consequences

HI! Sorry I took so long, but I wasn't all that happy with this chapter. And I'm still not. I think it kind of… sucks. But considering I cant make it any other way, I'll have to move on. For you that want to know about my crossover, I've already finished the next chapter and I'm now waiting for my pre-reader to run it over.

This is pretty much an Aoshi and Misao chapter, but it's just their first metting.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of them. * I'm gonna cry *

  


A stitch at a time

Aoshi was grateful he ended up choosing laws as his job, or else he might have thought that killing that defense lawyer as a favor to mankind instead for a crime. He had spent three and a half hours of his life listening to that bastard talk and say nothing. He had already left the building where the office was and was entering a tall glass and steel one, where his tailor was established. He crossed the entrance and headed for the elevators, where he called one and waited. While he was looking at the decreasing numbers of the elevator lit up, a young woman walked to his side and waited too. Aoshi couldn't help but look at her. Her black hair was in a complicated hairdo, with half of it in a bun and the other half in small, thin braids. She had a pair of sunglasses, with blue lens, hanging at the tip of her nose. She also had sky blue eyes with dots of darker blue. She wore a purple shirt, with a pointy cleavage and no sleeves, large jeans shorts that went until after her knees, and blue snickers. She was kind of a strange character to be in a rigid building like that one. Somehow she found out that he was looking at her through his bangs and smiled at him. He was considering smirking at her, when the elevator opened and she walked in. After he entered, he was going to press the 10th floor, but apparently she was going there too.

Both of them looked at the steel doors of the elevator, until they heard the 'ping' sound and they opened. They were greeted by two white walls that lead them to two glass doors. The woman walked out of the elevator and headed for the shop. His eyes caught notice of the sway of her hips in her hip-tight shorts and only came back to real life when the doors were going to close on him.

He walked inside the shop in a complete trance. He wasn't used to be so entranced by a woman's body, so why had his attention been caught by such a strange one? He looked around but didn't found her anywhere, just his tailor walking in his direction.

"Shinomori-san! How good it is to see you again!" The old man said, while a large smile to his face, larger than usual actually.

"You look happy today, Okina-san." Aoshi calmly answered. He was taken to a private room, where usually Okina and his some of his employees showed him their new stuff.

"Well, I have reason to be. My only living relative, my sweet granddaughter has come back from a two and a half years stay in Italy." The old man said, while showing him a dark blue suit. "She actually arrived some time before you and now she must be around here somewhere."

"Ah, yes." Aoshi tried to remember the girl's face again. Well, not remember considering she hadn't disappeared from his mind yet. For such a short contact, Aoshi was truly shaken by the woman. He sat on a soft coach and looked at his tailor.

"I'll be having a dinner party with my associates in some time and I needed something to wear. For me I'd wear a simple thing, but I've learned that business people pay much attention to those things."

"Well, Shinomori-san, if you're rich, as you are, if you have a nice body to attract the ladies, as I've been told by my female staff you have, you have to use suits that help you."

Aoshi couldn't help but smile at that. Okina sometimes was a real pervert! He couldn't count the time he had heard the old man hitting on his female clients. Lucky for him most of them thought he was kidding. Okina ran around the room and then walked out to talk to someone. He returned after a minute or two.

"Sorry for leaving you, young man, but I have this new suit for a dinner like you described, that will fix you great. Someone will bring it right away. Now, would you like to see something else?"

They were inside a large room, with tons of clothing, so they ran around looking for this and that. Mixed with the formal clothes Okina usually showed him, were some of more comfortable look to them. One of the pieces that caught his attention was a long, gray trench coat. Aoshi had always had a thing for trench coats and he had millions or them. While his tailor went on walking and talking, Aoshi stopped to grab the piece that had made his taste. With the coat in his hand, Aoshi easily caught up with Okina and they continued looking at the new shipment the shop had. Actually most of it was the kind of clothes he wore to his office on a Friday or on his weekends, not too formal but serious and not too glamorous. On the other hand, some clothes were really wacky. Most of them were woman's clothes, but they were really out of what Aoshi thought were Nenji's kind of clothes.

"I never seen clothes like these here." Aoshi commented.

"Well, that trench coat you have there is from the same designer of these here." Answered Okina, picking up a blood red top. "It's not our sort of clothes, but I found out that opening our horizons to new thing isn't bad for business. Actually it's quite opposite. You should see the pack of chickens we got here yesterday, wanting to buy clothes for this party they had. I head a migraine the size of the Pacific when they were gone, but a couple of yens richer." The old man started laughing and only stopped when they heard a door open. Both of them walked back to meet with the person who would bring the suit for Aoshi.

  


Misao was getting more and more exited to be working at Nenji's. That trip in the elevator had everything to do with it. When she had figured that that hunk was going to her gramps' shop, she couldn't help but run into Omasu and ask her who he was. He looked all business like and had that sort of cool attitude towards the world, but when Misao had looked up to see a pair of pale blue eyes staring at her she couldn't help but smile at him.

Omasu had had one look at him and then had smiled at her.

"Oh, Misao-chan has a crush on Shinomori-san." She had sung, while Shiro was passing with a client.

"Shut up, Omasu! I do not have a crush on him. I don't even know him! I just wanted to know his name, for Christ sake."

Then she had hid away when he had looked around, trying to hide her very red face. So she thought he was cute? No need to overreact! Her gramps had taken him away and Misao was left thinking about him and arranging the clothes. For a twenty-two year old she still had some reactions that were proper of a school girl. While Misao was berating herself, Omasu came to her with a suit in her hand.

"Misao-chan, I have this really annoying customer that doesn't get off my back, and Okina asked me to get him this suit. Would you be so nice as to take it to him?"

Misao knew there was something fishy about that, but her little girl inside couldn't help but jump at the thought of seeing Shinomori-san again. So, she picked the suit and headed for the private room. When she entered no one was around, but after a while she heard steps coming closer. Misao found herself looking at her clothes and staring at the mirror closer to her to see if she was alright. She couldn't believe she was acting like this over a man she didn't even knew. Her grandfather walked to her and behind him came him. The man of her dreams, she thought. He had a piece of clothing in his hand, but he looked like he wasn't from this world. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes and couldn't help but blush. He looked so gorgeous.

_What is wrong with you, Misao? He's just a guy, don't need to get all red here! God, it's hot in here or what?_

"Mi-chan! Shinomori-san, this is my lovely granddaughter, Misao." Shinomori nodded to her and looked at her a bit, before saying:

"Yes, we've shared an elevator." He said, with a calm and low voice, that matched perfectly his look. Misao helped her grandfather take the suit's jacket off the rack and Aoshi tried it on. His large chest and his nicely shaped shoulders were placed in all their glory with the tight coat. He didn't seem all that comfortable, even though the coat fitted him perfectly.

"Do you find it very tight, Shinomori-san?" She asked, with a shaky voice. He seemed surprised by the fact that she could talk, because he looked at her and only answered after a while.

"No, I just don't like suits very much. I feel trapped." Misao nodded and helped her grandfather with the pins. She could easily understand why he felt trapped: he had big chest and arm's muscles. The suit looked great on him, but he mustn't like them at all.

_He looks more like a free spirit, than a rigid business man._

She had to stop that thought, considering she knew nothing about the guy. Okina finished marking the coat and Aoshi quickly made his leave. Misao could only stare at his back as he walked out of the shop. But, just as he opened the glass door, she saw him look over his shoulder at her. Their eyes looked at each other and strangely each felt connected with the other. His eyes, cold and unfeeling, got softer and hers got a fire it was missing for a long time.

  


Well, here it is! Hope you review it for me, because this chapter got me really insecure. 'Til next time!

JA!

MaRiAnA


	3. Will this lunch ever end?

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I also managed to get around to it and work on this fic. This one, as you may have noticed, is much lighter than the crossover, but it's just to ease me up. Good reading!

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A stitch at a time

Chapter 3

Aoshi's finger connected with the elevator's button. As calm as he might look, Aoshi was dreading the upcoming couple of hours. His secretary had warned him that the three businessmen he would be having lunch with were waiting for him in the building's lobby. He had picked his new trench coat and left the office. He was lost in his thoughts of the next hours to come, when he heard the familiar 'ping' and the doors opened and he got out. Talking with each other in a small circle stood six men, dressed in black and gray suits and horrible ties. A tall, blonde one looked at him and told the others he had arrived. Aoshi tried to remember him, but he couldn't.

He knew all the others, so the introductions between them were made. He was a French lawyer that had come from Paris, to be present in the negotiation. Aoshi, excusing himself with the French guy, invited them to a traditional Japanese restaurant instead of the usual Argentinean. The group was composed by foreigners, so they cheered the idea. Aoshi invited the French guy to go with him in his car and the rest of the group followed his car.

When they arrived Aoshi directed the group inside the restaurant and waited until a very respectful man approached them.

"Shinomori-san! I haven't had the pleasure of seeing you in a long time." The man said, reveling a long relation between Aoshi and the restaurant.

"Hello, Saru-san. I would like a table for seven, if it's possible." The man excused himself and after five minutes returned and led them to their table. Like the traditional Japanese restaurants, all the tables were separated inside compartments, but they weren't closed. Saru led them to a large table near a large window and they sited. The first tem minutes were filled with casual talk about the food served and the drinks. Aoshi started to dread the entire thing when an English gentleman decided to try sake, for the first time. He could already see that they weren't going to discuss a thing!

After some time a waitress came to their table and they ordered. Aoshi couldn't help but feel insulted when the English gentleman told the French that the Japanese women were terribly sexy.

"You haven't had a lover, until you try a Japanese." Then he had smiled at Aoshi, considering he was the only Japanese sitting with them. "Isn't it right, Aoshi-san?" Aoshi could merely stare at him, with his cold blue eyes, and the man had shrunk back to his existence. Most of the men realized he had felt insulted and tried to mend the English's comment. All that Aoshi could do was close himself in his own mind and, in the middle of all of them, a certain woman entered his thoughts. He didn't know why but he felt even more enraged when he thought that, by meaning Japanese women, the English businessman had refereed to her too. He lost himself in his memories of her smile and her clear blue eyes. It was so strange that one small encounter had left such a mark in him.

Aoshi wasn't exactly the type of men that had casual flings and deserted women all over. In fact, he hadn't had many lovers and even if he hadn't been exactly Mister Romantic, he had been polite and he had respected his lovers. But he had never attached himself to the mere memory of a casual smile. Aoshi sighed, he wished he could see her again. Well, it didn't seem too hard. He knew where she was working, he could very well drop in anytime he wanted.

Aoshi was exactly think about it when, in the middle of all the people inside the restaurant, he saw none other than that face that had been haunting him since the previous day.

She was sitting in the table across from his, having lunch with a guy that had his back to him. She had her black hair in two thick braids and Aoshi caught sigh of one of her ears, which had a piercing. She wore no make up, but her face seemed to glow when she smiled. Aoshi caught himself feeling jealous of the guy she was with, especially when he grabbed her hand, while talking to her. He felt better though, when she took her hand away and shook her head no. She looked at the guy with what looked like amazement, as if she hadn't an idea what was going on. By the gestures of the guy, he seemed to be trying to convince her, but she shook her head again. But this time, when she shook her head, her eyes moved away from the guy's face and they came to rest on his'. He felt like a little boy caught with the cookie jar in his hand. So he looked away.

* * *

Misao was starting to regret the lunch with Soujiro. He had picked her up at the shop and told her he wanted her to have Japanese food, since she had been away for too long. She had thought it rather nice, even if Soujiro had never stroke her has a nationalistic guy. They hadn't talk much on their way to the restaurant, since Soujiro didn't like to talk while inside the car. It had always been a thing with him. During long trips he could spend five hours inside the car and not say a word, the minute they got out he wouldn't shut up. So, as expected, when they entered the restaurant, he started asking her how she had lived in Italy.

She had told him the main things: that she finished her degree, that she was making her first collection and that she danced for a hobby. He had seamed to like the last part.

"You dance now?" He asked, with a large smile. He had been smiling the entire time they had been together and she couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to use his charm on her again. "I would like to see you dance, Misao. It must be a sight!"

"Well, I'm still in the beginning, but I've whole chirographies already. But it's just a hobby, really. My main interest is fashion and it will always be." She said, but she couldn't but smile at him. She knew that he wasn't the kind of guy she needed, but his charm was just too irresistible. It was just a lunch, she could be a little nice to him!

"Yes, but I would love to see you anyway." He insisted, this time grabbing her hand. She looked at their joined hands and her face hardened. She snapped her hand away from his.

"What do you want, Soujiro? If you think we're going to pick up were we left, you got it wrong." She looked at him. He seemed confused, or he pretended to be confused. What was he trying to do?

"Misao! It's just a lunch and I just want to be your friend again. No need to get all defensive." He moved his hands and Misao's eyes inadvertently followed his movement and she shook her head again. She would have to tell him that she wasn't a young girl anymore, that she could see right pass his masquerade. But her eyes caught sigh of something much more interesting than Soujiro. On the other side of the restaurant, looking at her and surrounded by businessmen, like himself, sat Shinomori Aoshi, the man that had filled her dreams that same night.

Just when her eyes caught his, he looked away as if ashamed of being caught. Over Soujiro's gestures Misao looked at him like she hadn't the previous day. When she had met him on the shop she hadn't been able to really look at him, so she closed her hears to Soujiro's ramblings and focused herself on Aoshi.

He wasn't looking at her anymore, but he wasn't talking to the other men with him either. He was merely looking at his table, as if he were brooding over something. His bangs concealed his eyes, but Misao knew they were blue, pale blue. He had on his left hand a cup of sake and when he took a sip from it she couldn't help but notice his full but thin lips. When the cup left his mouth and it close, his lips took the form they usually had: a line, a very thin line. His lips reflected so well the type of man he was: the brooding type, the one that thinks everything to detail. He looked very collected and closed up, but she had admit that he was beautiful.

Working in fashion she had many times worked off-stage on fashion shows and she had seen many beautiful men in her life. Blonde, brunette, ginger, blue eyed, olive skin, pale skin, brown eyed. She had seen it all! And after all of them, she could only wonder why the heck hadn't Aoshi gone to model instead of whatever the hell he did. One of the guys sitting with him called his attention and he raised his head, to pass the bottle of sake. Even with the white shirt on, Misao distinguished his well toned muscles, underneath the 'cool businessman' act. He had to work off. She knew she was probably calling attention to herself, but she couldn't help but swoon over him!

"Misao? Misao, have you been listening to anything I have said?" Soujiro woke her up of her reverie and forced her back to the dreadful lunch. She smiled at him, trying to cover the fact that she hadn't listened to a word he had said.

"Hai? What is it, Soujiro?"

"Look I have to take this call and signal here is really bad. I'll have to go outside, but I'll be back as soon as possible."

"Alright."

As soon as Soujiro raised from his chair, Misao's eyes were back on Aoshi. But his eyes were following Soujiro, not her. He seamed a bit bothered.

* * *

She was watching him. He could feel it, her stare running all over his body and face. He didn't know if he should be pleased or insulted. The guy eating with her was still talking and didn't seem to have a clue that she wasn't listening to a word he was saying. Then he stopped talking to look at his cell-phone and left after looking at it. Just when Aoshi was thinking about going there to greet her, the guy turned around and Aoshi recognized Soujiro, his college.

His eyes followed him until he was outside. So, the bastard had left him to take care of the business lunch for himself, to have lunch with the little missy? Aoshi really wanted to take the jam out of his donut now. The lousy rat! So, without thinking twice, Aoshi rose from his table, excused himself and approached the girl's table.

She seamed to have noticed his approached, but she merely looked at her plate and drag her food from one place to the other. He walked up to her, until he was less than half a meter away from her table. She was then forced to look up and acknowledge his presence. He stared coolly at her, but she smiled that charming smile of hers.

"Shinomori-san! Please sit." If the offer had been made by any other he would have declined it, but he felt strangely attracted to the little woman in front of him. So he sat on Soujiro's place and pushed his plate out of his way. "How are you?" She asked.

"I am very well, Makimachi-san." She smiled at him and laughed when he refereed to her by her surname.

"Please call me Misao. Makimachi-san is too weird for me."

Aoshi looked her up and down and, even if he wasn't a clothes fanatic, he had to admit the girl had style. She was wearing a white and blue dress, with no sleeves, made of a fabric that was almost transparent. Fortunately she had a light white combination under it. Then she had a pair of those roman sandals on her feet. It was obvious she took great care in her state of dress.

"Do you like the dress?" She asked. Aoshi's eyes looked up at her face, trying to catch that look that women usually wear when they catch a guy looking at her, the 'I've caught you checking me out' look. But all that he caught was a curious look, as if she really wanted to know the answer to her question.

"Yes, it's very pretty. I imagine it's from your grandfather's store."

"Well, actually there will be some of those there, in a while, but this one is the first one." She had the most enormous smile on her face. "I designed it! That's what I do, I design clothes. That trench coat you bought yesterday was my design too."

Aoshi looked carefully at her. She was still smiling and her eyes seemed to glow. It was obvious she took great pride in her work. He couldn't help but give her a tiny, little smile in return. But right after that he had to ruin it.

"So, where do you know Soujiro?" He asked, trying to strike a conversation. Her smile seemed to falter though and she looked down at her hands. His eyes followed hers and settled on her white hands. She had such long thin fingers, two of then had small rings around them, but both were very discreet.

"Oh, he's an ex-boyfriend." She looked up, as if to see his reaction. He knew he didn't have a thing to do with them, but he felt a strange tightening on his chest. "And… and you? Where do you know him from?" Aoshi shrugged his shoulders.

"He works at my office. We are colleges." She seamed pleased with his answer.

"Really? You're a lawyer too?" He nodded his head. "I don't know why, but that profession seems to fit you far better than Soujiro. I always thought he looked like a little kid trying to prove himself. I don't know! Maybe he is a very competent lawyer, I don't know." Aoshi had to admit, the woman was… he didn't know, special? She seemed to take everything so well. "Well, I shouldn't be talking like this. Many people have underestimated me because of my kid look. But now everything will be different!"

Aoshi didn't even had to say two or three sentences and she was already talking to him as if he were her best friend. She took a sip from her drink and smiled at him. He supposed she had finished that topic, but he had no desire to start another. His eyes descended from her face, to her neck and settled on the small pit at the base of it. She also wore two necklaces, but none of them covered her neck because they were large. One of them was made of semi-precious stones and the other was just made of string and a pendent with the form of a triangle. He saw her take a deep breath and knew she was going to talk again.

"Hum… Shinomori-san? Is Soujiro seeing anyone?" He looked sternly at her and knew that even if he couldn't his eyes, he must've let something transpire. He didn't know why, but he felt betrayed. When he answered he didn't manage to hold his contempt from his answer.

"I'm not his nanny, I don't know."

"I understand it might seem strange and stupid to ask, but I thought you two could be friends and he might've said something." She sighed. "I really hope he is seeing someone."

"Why?" Aoshi just couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Well, our affair ended when I went to Italy, in a rather drastic way, and now I have no idea why he asked he out for lunch. I really hope this is just a friendly way of saying welcome." She explained.

Aoshi was first amazed that she would tell him all that and then he was purely mad. Soujiro and he weren't exactly best friends, but he knew the guy good enough to know that the lunch with Misao was no welcome home lunch. He was trying to win her back. Yes, by the way the guy liked to boast about his conquests, Aoshi could see him wanting to boast about the clothes designer he had caught. The bastard!

"Well, maybe you should clear that up with him." Aoshi couldn't believe he had just said that! He usually didn't meddle in other people's love affairs, much less give advice.

"I told him something of the kind, but he got all defensive." She said, with a sad voice. "And I don't want to exaggerate things and lose his friendship. He's one of the few friends I still have left in Japan."

Without thinking Aoshi took out his wallet and gave her one of his personal cards, not the professional ones.

"Well, now you have a new one. If you ever need anything, give me a ring. Okay, Misao?" She smiled at him once again and nodded.

"Thanks, Shinomori-san…"

"You may call me Aoshi. Now I have to go. I'm in the middle of a business lunch and Soujiro should be returning. Goodbye."

"Bye, Aoshi. Thanks for everything."

"It was my pleasure."

* * *

Misao couldn't believe what had just happened. First she had been amazed that he had gotten up to greet her, then when he had agreed to sit with her… she really didn't expect that from him! And she didn't know why but she felt so at ease talking to him. He didn't seem to listen to all of what she said, but he did! When he had said that he and Soujiro worked together she couldn't help but think that it had been destiny. It had been destiny that had put Soujiro in her way, so that she could later on know Aoshi better.

And he had given her his card! She looked at it while Soujiro didn't return. It had his name and two numbers, his cell-phone and his house. She had first thought he had given her his office number, it had never crossed her mind that he might give her his home number. And it even went as far as to have his address! She would have to make sure not to lose that card or she would kill herself. So she placed it inside her make-up kit.

Soujiro returned five minutes later, with that silly smile that she had once thought charming. He asked the garçon for the check and then smiled sadly at her.

"I'm sorry, Misao-chan. I was really enjoying this lunch, but I was just informed of an emergency back at the office and I really must run." Misao sighed in relief.

"That is quite okay, Soujiro. I don't mind." She got up from her chair and dressed her coat. It was a large blue coat, made of cotton. She had, of course, made it. It was another one of her creations she took pride on.

"Really? Look, let me make it up to you. Dinner tonight, okay with you?" He asked, laying a hand on her back.

"I'm sorry, but I'm busy tonight. We can make plans later, don't worry about it, my **friend**." She stressed the word friend to see if he got the picture. His smile faltered, but he lived on. He said his good-byes and left. Misao watched him go and, when his back disappeared behind a turn, Misao looked in Aoshi's direction. At that same moment his eyes met hers. He raised a glass at her and nodded. She didn't know if it was encouragement or not, but she felt better after seeing it. She smiled at him in return, but she didn't know if he saw it or not, because a man close to him called him.

After staring at him for tem whole seconds, she thought it best if she retrieved herself. She now had his number, all that was left was the guts to call him.

* * *

Mariana's brain: Aoshi's totally OOC! How could you do that to him?

Mariana: Look, can you come up with something better? I had to have him give her his phone number, ok? Or else how da hell are they meeting again?

Mariana's brain: But… it's just sooooo sappy!

Mariana: Oh! Shut your pie hole! Damn stupid brain doesn't come up with anything god then complains!

Well, reviews or flames! You pick…

****

MaRiAnA


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